Davis elected mayor of new City of Brookhaven

DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. --Georgia's newest city elected its first mayor Tuesday.

The first mayor of the new City of Brookhaven will be J. Max Davis.

Unofficial returns from Georgia's Secretary of State Tuesday night showed Davis won the runoff electionwith 4,177 votes, or 66 percent, over Sandy Murray who received 2,194 votes, or34 percent.

Davisand the four new council members -- three of themwereelectedinTuesday's runoff-- gathered with supporters at a Brookhaven pub to celebrate.

But Davis said they all know that theyhave a massive job to do, now -- create the brand new city government out of what had been a huge swath of urban-suburbanunincorporated DeKalb Couty, for its 50,000 residents,from scratch.

AndDavis said they willget to work immediately preparing for the City of Brookhaven's first day of existence, December 17th.

They willhave their first city council meetings before then, as soon as they're all sworn in.

They'll begin with a city budget of maybe around $25 Million.

They'll have to hire a City Manager.

They'll have to enter into a contract with DeKalb Countyfor police services until Brookhaven can hire its own police force.

And they'll have to get other essential servicesup and running, fast.

Those are just a few of the items on their long,"to do" list.

It's all a massive task, with little time to get it all done.

"I ask for the people's patience," Davis told 11Alive's Jon Shirek Tuesday night. "I've been telling them thatsince before the election, that we needeverybody to be patient. We'll get it done.... I hope they see a responsive government that's efficient, is cost-efficient and responsive. That's something that we haven't had in this area of DeKalb County in a while."

Just before the final results were in, Sandy Murray, who watched the returns withher supporters Tuesday night, said she wants tofind ways to serve Brookhaven.

"I still want to be involved," she said, "and I still want to be here to do what I can to make sure we're successful. I want us to feel like a community," unified and working together.

Davis, too, called for unity. He was a founder, two years ago, of the efforts to make Brookhaven its own city, and he said he and the council will try to "build bridges" to residents who opposed the incorporation of Brookhaven.

The three candidates who won council seats in Tuesday's runoff will join Jim Eyre on the council, who won his seat in the General Election on November 6.